Hey Y'all ! How are you doing this week? Me ? Pretty well. This week I want to talk about he past. We all have one and most are very different. But the past I wan't to talk about is our photography past. More importantly the camera's that we used or owned that shaped how we see things and how we do things when it comes to photography. Some of our most basic instincts and feelings are formed when we are children and the things that surrounded us. For example when I grew up as a child in the 60's and 70's when black and white was still a big thing. I can remember watching the moon landing on a black and white TV with rabbit ears trying to adjust the picture for my dad. I was the remote! LOL But now my grandchildren  were born with phones that took photo's so they have always had a camera in their hands that could take video as well as stills. So their experiences will be much different than mine. Growing up in a lower income family meant we didn't have fancy cameras. We had cheap ones that were only brought out for special occasions like birthdays, Christmas or a vacation that was taken by the family. This is when I got to use the camera. So lets look at the camera's that shaped me.

Kodak Brownie. The Kodak Brownie has been around for a long time and had many variations from made from cardboard to plastic. The one I Brownie Memories got to use on family vacations or special occasions was a plastic one. Really no Focus just point shoot and advance the film until full and then rewind and then send to the drug store to get developed.  I would say the mid 1960's to early 70's is when we used this camera the most. This camera has disappeared from our family probably sold in a yard sale wish I still had it.

Poloroid camera. I do remember using this camera and was amazed that it would flash and the photo you could see right away. The photo's didn't seem to last like the film ones did as we only have one or two photo's left that were taken with the Polaroid .  Film then as now was expensive.

Pentax K1000. My first real camera that I bought was a Pentax K1000. This a totally manual SLR 35mm film camera. Back before the internet we had catalogs that you could buy things through. I bought this camera from Sears and Roebuck specialty catalog. The camera cost me 99 dollars.  It had a 50mm lens and the film I bought from a company called Clark. When you bought the film you also got an envelope to send the exposed film and in a week or so you would get your photo's back in the mail. I got this camera when I was a teenager and took it to high school with me many times and still have photo's of people and events from my high school days. I purchased a 135mm lens for this camera from a friend and still have the lens. So I had a small telephoto at 2.8 that I used. I sold this camera after I joined the military while stationed in the Philippines and hated to part with it .

Old Eyes Pentax MX. My next camera that replaced the K1000 was the Pentax MX. The only thing different from the K1000 is that this had a self timer on it so you could shoot selfies or photo's with the family. I shot a lot of color slide film with this camera and developed myself. I still have this camera and that first 135mm lens that I bought as a teenager and still shoot occasionally with it. I used it until I got my first digital and haven't looked back.

Kodak DX 4900 Digital- This first digital camera was crazy I could take photo's and put on a computer right away! I got this in early 2000's maybe 2002 or so. Before this camera I was developing and printing black and white but after this camera no more chemicals and converting my bathroom into a darkroom. This camera changed the way I took pictures .  I could see the photo's instantly!

I have had many digital camera's since that first Kodak digital camera when I went to Nikon and shot with many camera's and then I switched to Sony and have gone threw many cameras and still shoot Sony. But those first cameras when I was looking through a viewfinder for the first time and seeing the Square of what the shot would look like changed me forever and gave me this great hobby that I have now and enjoy decades later. What camera's made you? What was your first one? Let me know in the comments. Until Next week Get out and Shoot!